Description
To run PHP projects on Windows, the official answer is this Windows binary package — no compiling from source, just unzip and set the environment variables. PHP is the general-purpose scripting language behind everything from personal blogs to the largest sites in the world: fast, flexible and pragmatic.
Downloaded directly from official php.net, in thread-safe and non-thread-safe builds across several mainline versions (8.5 / 8.4 / 8.3 / 8.2), free and open-source.
No compiling: official precompiled Windows binaries run after you configure php.ini and the environment variables, sparing you a source build.
CLI and web both: use php.exe for scripts and the built-in dev server, or wire it into Apache or Nginx as a module to serve sites.
Multiple versions side by side: mainline releases from 8.5 down to 8.2 let old and new projects each keep their own without interfering.
Thread-safe optional: TS and NTS builds are separated — TS for Apache mod_php, NTS for FastCGI/FPM — chosen by how you deploy.
Rich extensions: a large set of common extension DLLs ships with it, with database, crypto and image processing enabled as needed in php.ini.
Downloaded directly from official php.net, in thread-safe and non-thread-safe builds across several mainline versions (8.5 / 8.4 / 8.3 / 8.2), free and open-source.
Features
No compiling: official precompiled Windows binaries run after you configure php.ini and the environment variables, sparing you a source build.
CLI and web both: use php.exe for scripts and the built-in dev server, or wire it into Apache or Nginx as a module to serve sites.
Multiple versions side by side: mainline releases from 8.5 down to 8.2 let old and new projects each keep their own without interfering.
Thread-safe optional: TS and NTS builds are separated — TS for Apache mod_php, NTS for FastCGI/FPM — chosen by how you deploy.
Rich extensions: a large set of common extension DLLs ships with it, with database, crypto and image processing enabled as needed in php.ini.
